London-based customers of high-end cycling clothing brand Rapha specifiying the Fast Fridays bike courier delivery option on items they order this week may be in for a surprise.
That’s because Rapha Condor pro riders Dean Downing and Matt Cronshaw will be helping speed the North London-based brand's goods from its Belsize Park base to customers in some 44 postcodes across the capital, ranging from Hampstead to Clapham and Holland Park to Bow.
Rapha is asking its customers to help test the riders’ skills through the London traffic by using the delivery option, which costs £20 and applies to orders taken between 2pm on Thursday and 2pm on Friday, although there is a limited number of slots available.
Elite Circuit Series champion Downing promises to enter into the spirit of things, responding to an enquiry on Twitter about whether he would be riding a fixie for the day with the response, “will be needing one yeah, gotta do it right hey.”
That could mean a trip down to Condor’s shop on Gray’s Inn Road to get kitted out with a bike, and the shop is handily placed for Clerkenwell’s Duke of York pub, a long-time magnet for London’s bike courier community, should the pair feel the need to swap some war stories afterwards with those who brave the capital's streets on a daily basis.
Downing and Cronshaw’s stint delivering parcels around the city comes the day after the London Courier Emergency Fund, which takes care of those injured while out working, holds a courier appreciation day.
The organisation will be distributing free food and coffee to working couriers at the junction of Bloomsbury Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, and free bike checks will also be available.
Obviously can't be trusted, antisocial, ban motor vehicles...
But getting paid for it is the very definition of professional....
Never had a Shimano QR fail on me. They just work. And the top end ones look good too....
If you're only looking at the guy in front of you then you're going to crash whatever brakes you have, you need to look beyond them to anticipate...
As a woman, this works great for me! My chain broke once, and a kind guy stopped with a chain breaker and sorted it all out for me. We stopped at a...
Same. I also have gone through a bunch of their tyres, and only the extralight disappointed (torn sidewall) but the standards are fantastic....
thanks for the ideas....
Indeed - but it's no more inconsistent than our current road design - very often UK high streets are "for shopping" and also a busy through route....
If you ask the world's leading economic commentators how many people have been rescued from abject poverty by capitalism the average answer would...
loads of parking